


Denouement

by hiyas



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death, this was supposed to be fluffy whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 15:05:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5502179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiyas/pseuds/hiyas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thanos comes, the world as he knows it ends, and Loki is left reeling in the aftermath. Good thing there are people who can help steady him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Denouement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Seyary_Minamoto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seyary_Minamoto/gifts).



It took a vision of impending doom to bring Thor back to Asgard. It took the aftermath of that same doom to bring Loki back to his senses.

The Mad Titan Thanos had come to claim the Infinity Stone hidden inside the Realm Eternal’s vaults and for the second prince’s head. Loki, who had been disguising himself as Odin, had tried to prepare Asgard’s troops for his inevitable siege. But war had never been his strongest suit, and he could barely hold out against the superior might of Thanos. Thor came back to a war-ravaged Asgard, her greatest warriors captive and his brother sentenced to die. Without the help of Thor’s Midgardian friends, the strange band of heroes known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the ultimate sacrifice of their king, who had awoken from his Odinsleep just in time to turn the tide, all would have been lost.

It had been the latter one that seemed to have snapped Loki back to sanity, or so The Lady Sif mused. She witnessed Odin’s final attack first-hand, after all. Thor and Loki had been fighting Thanos together, while she, a blinded but still lethal Heimdall, the Warriors Three, and their allies dealt with his army. But even the combined strength of the two princes were not enough to defeat the villain. Thanos had knocked Thor down and was readying himself to kill Loki for his failure to deliver Earth and the Tesseract to him, when the All-Father arrived. Odin shielded him from Thanos’ deathblow and struck the Mad Titan with Gungnir in retaliation.

“Not my sons! You have spread death all over my kingdom, but you will not slay my sons, nor will I allow you to stay a second more in my kingdom, vile creature!” the king roared, before casting out Thanos from this realm to some forgotten dimension.

The war was won, but the damage had been done. Odin had taken the brunt of the blow intended for Loki, and died days later with both of his sons by his side. Thor ascended the throne as he had been meant to, if in a decidedly more sedate affair than he had imagined as a boy. His first official act as king was to decree that rebuilding Asgard and securing the Nine Realm’s peace from those who would destroy is his priority. His second was to officially pardon Loki for his crimes on the condition that his magic is used help heal the realm. Odin after all had forgiven his wayward son and Thor would not waste his father’s sacrifice by taking away Loki’s chance to redeem himself. Loki, subdued and in shock since the All-Father’s passing, had merely bowed down to King Thor, and ignored all the shouts of indignation from those in attendance.

Lady Sif and the Warriors Three stood rooted in their place, shocked at the proclamation, but resolved to talk to their friend in private. It would not do for Thor’s young rule to be seen divided. The moment they had the chance to talk to the new king however, they did not hesitate to let him know what they think of his decision.

Sif began, “He has betrayed you before, he will do it again.”

“He will not,” Thor replied.

Fandral considered this and cautiously said, “It’s rather difficult to trust him again, when you put into account all that he’s done.”

Hogun merely nodded in agreement.

“Then trust my judgement. Loki is changed by recent events. Our father’s sacrifice has been weighing upon his soul.”

Volstagg scoffed, “Hmm, but how can you be so sure, my King?”

“Have you not seen how he has been acting, my friends? My brother is truly grieving the lost of our father, and has keenly felt the gravity of his past misdeeds.”

“But that’s what it is, my King: an act,” Sif insisted.

Thor was about to reply when Loki quietly appeared from a shadowed corner, “Then we shall see, won’t we, my lady?”

* * *

And see it they did.

The entire realm cautiously observed Loki as he help in the slow work of rebuilding Asgard from the ashes of war. Lady Sif perhaps was the most suspicious of them all and closely monitored the dark prince’s movements as he fulfilled his end of Thor’s decree. She wanted to keep her promise to him during the crisis with the Dark Elves: she would kill him if he betrayed Thor again. Everyday, Loki would go where Thor bid him to help out, and without fail, she would be there to escort him to and from the palace.

If Loki was unnerved by her presence, he wouldn’t say. He had only spoken to her once, when she and her friends confronted Thor about their concerns about pardoning him. During their excursions to different parts of Asgard, he would only incline his head in greeting and promptly ignored her the rest of the time. He went about his tasks efficiently, going from one town to another, healing hurts, leading a small crew of workers to repair what the Chitauri had wrecked, lifting debris with his seidr as if there were no red-clad warrior doggedly following his every move.

This suited her just fine. It gave her more time to device creative ways of killing him the moment he slipped up.

Except...

Except he never did give her the excuse she needed to end his miserable life. Loki worked quietly, accepting the mistrustful looks and ignoring the curses as graciously as he could. He held his tongue and reined in his temper as best as he can. In time, the townsfolk began to believe that he had truly come to make amends. If they would not go directly to him for help, they would ask her to relay their needs to him. By the time autumn began, the people had gotten used to seeing Loki accompanied the warrior lady everywhere, that hardly anyone took interest anymore at the sight of them side by side.

This development vexed her more and more, not that she would admit it.

* * *

“How goes the repairs, my lady?” Thor asked her. She had been standing on a balcony, alone and observing the jubilant crowd celebrating the first winter solstice after the War for the Infinity Stones, when he approached her with warm smile.

“You know how it goes, my King,” Sif retorted, sipping her mulled wine. “He reports to you practically everyday, when he comes back to the palace.”

In truth, Asgard had recovered more quickly than she thought it would. At the very least, nobody in the realm had gone without food or shelter by the time the first snow fell that winter. Loath was she to give him credit, she knew Loki and his magic had been instrumental to that.

Thor laughed. The quick return of her friend’s smiles is something else that she had to credit partially to Loki as well. As a nameday gift, Loki had brought Jane Foster to Asgard for a visit to an overjoyed Thor. Sif could see Jane’s dark head among the children playing with a hover ball below. “Yes, he does. Although, my brother has failed to mention that he had been needing your protection as he goes about his duties.”

Her eyes flashed at that. “If anything, he needs protection from me.”

He quirked a blond eyebrow at that, “Has he done anything to warrant it? Recently, I should say. I know you hold him accountable for many youthful grievances against you.”

“Well, no-”

“That’s good then, isn’t it?”

“Perhaps it’s because Loki knows I’m there. He’s not stupid enough to try anything while I have my eyes on him,” she muttered darkly.

“Nevertheless, perhaps it is a good thing that you have taken upon yourself to accompany him. I was going to send Fandral or perhap Hogun with him, but you had come to join him on your own on that first day. It would be a lonely task, and perhaps a more dangerous one as well, if my brother had no friend with him. Seeing you beside him also eased his way among our people. So I thank you, on his behalf,” Thor said before placing a warm hand on her shoulder in farewell and leaving her with her thoughts.

She watched as he walked up to Loki and tried to pilfer the book he had been reading while Fandral moved to distract him. The dark-haired prince darted away from his brother’s grasp but to no avail. Thor seized the book, replaced it with a goblet, and offered the wine to his grumbling brother. From her vantage point, she could see Thor and Fandral tease him with a smile, coaxing a tentative one to bloom on Loki’s face. Years ago this would have been a familiar scene. Now, it just left her sad and confused.

Sif drained her goblet, and rushed to leave.

* * *

“Are you alright, my lady?”

Sif visibly started at Loki’s question, and paused to look at him, gazing at her with concern and gentleness. They had come from a fishing village that had requested specifically for Loki to help with the sickness ravaging their people.

(An amused Thor showed her the letter, asking for Prince Loki and his princess to come help. She had hit his arm when he laughed. Sif thought of how overjoyed he would have been if he had witnessed the way the villagers had called them Prince and Princess.)

She shook her head and nudges her horse along. “I’m fine,” she tried to convince him with a small smile, and started walking to the stables.

Loki paused, considering her for a beat before silently falling in step with her. “If you like, I could ask Fandral to accompany me next time. Or perhaps Hogun would be more suited. Fandral’s too chatty,” he offered.

“Have I offended you?”

“My lady, your presence could never offend. I was merely considering your feelings. You need not burden yourself with my company,” he said quietly.

She exhaled. “You have been taking all this too well.”

Loki bowed his head. “Not _too_ well. But the work… helps. Being useful and busy doesn't leave much energy or time to get into more trouble. And Thor bullies me out of my darker thoughts whenever we talk." He paused, before forging on with a quiet confession, "Your presence helps too, my lady. It calms me.”

She nodded. “Well, that settles it then.”

He turned to look at her, puzzlement plain to see. “My lady?”

Sif reached out her free hand to hold his. “Let’s not bother Fandral. Or Hogun. I think we can manage tomorrow’s adventure just fine, Loki.”

He stared at their clasped hands in wonder, before nodding. “Very well, Sif.”

They walked back to the Palace hand in hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, Sifki friends, especially @Seyary_Minamoto. I hope the ending was fluffy enough. (I was going to draw something, but I haven't had the time and energy enough with my busy sched.)


End file.
